I Only Want You to Take Her Away

"I came to see your clan's forbidden technique."

"In exchange, Demon Hidden Village will protect the Tsuchigumo Clan if it ever faces danger."

Arata looked at the waist-length white hair of the old man before him and offered the same terms Hiruzen Sarutobi had once offered.

Such bluntness darkened En no Gyōja's expression. He was, after all, a senior figure in the Ninja World and the keeper of a terrifying forbidden technique.

That old man Sarutobi had been qualified to make such a request because he was En no Gyōja's peer. Konoha was also widely recognized as the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, with both the strength and the credibility to honor its promises.

But this new power called Demon Hidden Village had yet to earn anyone's trust.

Worse, the Uchiha Clan that led it had brought outsiders into its former village. That looked rather like a betrayal.

Whatever the reasons behind it.

"The Tsuchigumo Clan has no need to cling to life through another's protection."

"As long as I live, I will protect this clan."

"I appreciate the offer."

En no Gyōja answered the young man hovering in the sky without servility or arrogance.

If anyone who asked could inspect his clan's secret technique, how could it remain the foundation of their survival?

Ultimately, he had agreed to Sarutobi's terms for another reason: Konoha was vast and full of powerful shinobi. A small clan simply could not stand against such a colossus. He had made that agreement because he had little choice.

From what he had heard, the newly founded Demon Hidden Village did not yet command that kind of power.

True, on the surface, this rising force had recently defeated the foremost of the long-established Five Great Shinobi Villages.

But as many saw it, the Uchiha